Palmetto Pigskin's South Florence Preview
71-21. South Florence’s unbelievable blowout win at “The Backyard” over Conway was one for the ages. While both teams finished 5-5, the victory for the Bruins showed that Lynn Fleming is bringing the program in the right direction.
So the feeling this year is to continue to get better. Kaleb Griffin returns at quarterback after throwing for over 2,200 yards and 26 touchdowns. The coaching staff had quite the surprise after the season was over when they learned Griffin did much of that on a torn ACL. Griffin has surgery and Fleming believes the rehab helped him to improve the strength in both of his legs and his upper body. Fleming has seen better accuracy and velocity on Griffin’s throws this summer. Griffin is getting interest from a number of FCS schools.
Unfortunately, Griffin loses his favorite targets. Charles Nettles, Blake Vinson and Trent Dowd caught almost three quarters of the passes thrown last year, and they’re all gone. But Fleming has eight players ready to fill their footsteps. One of them, Mike Muhammad, is expected to be a all-around player for the Bruins – playing some receiver, some cornerback and even some wildcat quarterback.
South Florence also loses its top two running backs – Terrion Brown and Derrick Rogers. Brandon Lewis and Vincent Johnson are expected to fill the void. Almost the entire offensive line returns.
The defense features a strong returning linebacking corps, including Jordan Lester, Vincent Johnson, and Ron Grice. Shannon Rogers anchors the defensive line with Jeremiah Reaves the leader in the secondary.
South Florence’s non-region schedule got a whole lot tougher with the additions of Blythewood, Myrtle Beach and Lake City. But with Sumter and Conway rebuilding, and Hartsville out of the region, if the Bruins can find the weapons to surround Griffin, they could contend for a region title.
